Natixis Advisors LLC Has $255,000 Stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,634 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Wendy’s by 159.6% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,844,000 after acquiring an additional 3,959,480 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth about $13,358,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,938,000 after purchasing an additional 766,910 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,303,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $102,743,000 after buying an additional 458,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 1,653.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 376,978 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,605,000 after buying an additional 355,480 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.08.

Wendy’s Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $14.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The company has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The Wendy’s Company has a 12-month low of $13.72 and a 12-month high of $20.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.76.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.17 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. On average, research analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.84%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.26%.

Wendy’s Profile

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Wendy’s U.S., Wendy’s International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy’s U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S.